The Two of Swords signifies wisdom and ideation on the intellectual level of human expression. Two of Swords upright: professionalism. Two of Swords reversed: dogmatism.
The Two of Swords is the sphere of wisdom and ideation on the intellectual level of human expression, i.e., intelligent ideation.
To understand intelligent ideation, we must first consider the difference between ideas and thoughts. An idea is an inspiration that has the form of an image. Thoughts are linguistic forms. Without language, we can’t think. Close your eyes and watch your thoughts. You will see that every time your mind formulates a thought, a voice in your head generates a sentence that represents that thought.
Ideas trigger thinking processes. Imagine you get the idea to go for a hike, which could be the image of you walking in a forest. That idea prompts (deductive) thoughts, like what time to go and what shoes to wear. When you leave the house, you find the sky cloudy. That kicks off (analytical) thoughts, like whether it may rain. You conclude that it’s likely to rain and decide to bring an umbrella.
The respective power of consciousness is principalization: the identification of the principles that apply to a situation.
Sometimes, we can’t solve a problem because we don’t see the wood for the trees. The best way to deal with such a situation is by returning to its principles, like what the situation is about, how we got into it, and what we want to achieve.
Tarot readings can do that by revealing the principles involved in the querent’s challenge. We can find applicable principles by asking the right question. That’s why Tarot readings begin with a question.
The constructive use of principalization is professionalism. Professionalism means sticking to the right principles. Professionalism isn’t limited to business. Think of a professional mother, a professional student, or a professional friend.
Success lies in the relentless execution of the basics. – Leonardo da Vinci
Remember instances in your life when you wanted to do something, but a bad feeling crept up on you? That’s the power of the Two of Swords. This discomforting feeling tells you that you’re violating a principle, which is doomed to backfire. Mind, this differs from bad conscience (Six of Cups), which tells you that you’re about to violate your inner code of honor.
The sphere of the Two of Swords is also the sphere of axioms. An axiom is a (self-evident) principle that we accept without asking for proof. It serves as a foundation for bodies of thought, like mathematics, logic, or a philosophy. For instance, the axiom of religion is God’s existence.
An auspicious Two of Swords calls for adhering to professionalism and letting principles guide one’s actions.
A neighboring Six of Cups (Decision) calls for making principle-based decisions. Ignorance of the principles involved in a challenge or undertaking may cause indecision. Knowing the principles governing a situation gives rise to decisiveness. This is where the secondary meaning of courage comes from.
An inauspicious Two of Swords may indicate that a lack of principles, the violation of principles, or adhering to wrong principles brought about the querent’s challenge. Or that the querent abandoned professionalism to manipulate situations for short-term gain.
An inauspicious Two of Swords may also indicate an idée fixe or monomania, suggesting that the querent is obsessing over an intrusive idea that dominates their thoughts and actions. You may know this as the Don Quixote syndrome. Don Quixote is a famous example of monomania because he attacked windmills, thinking they were giants. Hence, an inauspicious Two of Swords may indicate that the querent’s conflicts are imaginary. Mind that Don Quixote had a noble intention, and that’s how many people feel when they attack people or nations who are imaginary enemies.
Intrusive ideas are the seeds of ideologies. Hence, an inauspicious Two of Swords may indicate conscious and unconscious ~isms and/or (unconscious) prejudices towards a race, a social group, or a gender.
Intrusive ideas can cause OCD. In the case of monomania and ideologies, the querent isn’t aware of her intrusive thoughts. In the case of OCD, she is aware of the intrusive thoughts but can’t stop herself from enacting them.
Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one we have. – Émile-Auguste Chartier
Two of Swords Symbolism
The two swords in the picture represent the first and second spheres on the Intellectual Tree.
This symbolism gives rise to the idea of intellectual intention (Ace of Swords), looking at the principles (Two of Swords) that apply to a chosen venture.
This establishes a dualism between intention and applicable principles, which may conflict or harmonize.
For instance, an inventor may intend to launch an AI system that comforts people in distress. This is likely to fail because AI doesn’t understand emotions (the principle).
In the case the inventor intends to design an AI that teaches emotional intelligence, the intention and principles harmonize because an AI can provide facts about emotions.
The Five Psychological Core Meanings of the Two of Swords
We derive the psychological meanings of Tarot cards from their position on the Tree of Life. In the Enlightenment Tarot framework, the Two of Swords represents Chokmah of Hod, i.e., wisdom on the intellectual level of human expression.
Every Tarot card represents a faculty or power of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively, which produce either a fortunate or an adverse state of mind. Hence, every Tarot card has five core meanings.
These are the five core meanings of the Two of Swords:
- Power of consciousness: Principalization
- Constructive use: Professionalism
- Unconstructive use: Dogmatism
- Auspicious state of mind: Decisiveness
- Inauspicious state of mind: Indecision
Reflective Questions
If the Two of Swords appears in your spread, it may be beneficial to ask yourself the following questions:
- Which of my lines of thought are guided by principles and which ones by emotional reactions and assumptions?
- Am I willing to reconsider a belief or assumption if it proves to be an intrusive or limiting idea?
- Which idea dominates my mind right now, and what would happen if I let it go?
- Where have I turned a principle into a dogma without realizing it?
- Is the enemy I’m struggling against real, or have I, like Don Quixote, created windmills in my mind?
- In what area of my life do I mistake loyalty to a failing idea for courage?
Two of Swords Summary
Professionalism means letting the compass of principles, not spontaneous thoughts or rigid beliefs, guide our ventures.
Where Do Tarot Card Meanings Actually Come From?
The meanings of Tarot cards come from various sources. The most common are:
- The position of the Tarot cards on the Tree of Life
- Astrological correspondences (signs, planets, & houses)
- The symbolism of Tarot cards
- Intuition
- Meanings that pertain to fortune telling
Most of the Tarot card meanings you can google are astrological correspondences and go back to the Golden Dawn and Arthur Edward Waite. Astrological meanings have dominated because Astrology favors fortune telling. But Astrological meanings are unsuitable for (psychological) Tarot readings.
If you are interested in an overview of the astrological correspondences, you can download a high-resolution chart by subscribing to the Enlightenment Tarot.
Tarot card meanings are a bit of a mess since the meanings that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life mingle with astrological correspondences, symbolic interpretations, and fortune-telling connotations. That’s tedious to memorize. Further, tarotists’ opinions, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds shaped some of these interpretations. Last but not least, many meanings are fuzzy, contradictory, and overlap. If you want to understand why they overlap, read the article How to Deal With the Overlapping Meanings of Tarot cards.
The meanings of the Enlightenment Tarot are based on an objective and holistic framework: the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. The resulting meanings are transparent and logical and, hence, easier to memorize.
What Do Various Tarotists Say about the Meanings of the Two of Swords
Let’s explore what various tarotists wrote about the Two of Swords.
Tarotists emphasize the astrological significances of Tarot cards since these lend themselves to divination and fortune-telling. The Two of Swords corresponds to the first decanate of Libra.
The main Libran characteristics are: artistic, just, and cooperative. The first decanate adds the following vibes to the mix: meticulous, refined, and aesthetic.
Venus rules Libra, and that’s where the artistic and aesthetic traits come from.
Libra rules the 7th house of relationships and partnerships. This house governs all transactional relationships, like the relationship with our spouses, children, and business relations. That’s where the cooperative trait comes from.
Accordingly, the 7th house also rules diplomacy, negotiations, agreements, deals, and legal matters.
Last but not least, this house governs our relationship with the external world, which is ruled by karma.
What Paul Foster Case Said About the Meanings of the Two of Swords
For the Two of Swords, Paul Foster Case proposed the keywords indicision and friendship.
Likely, he derived the inauspicious notion of indecision from a lack of understanding of the principles involved in a situation. Paul added that this card sometimes indicates a period of uncertainty, during which the querent, though she has a sense of adequate power (wisdom), does not know just what to do with it. For this reason, this card can indicate a delay in the realization of objectives (Ten of Cups), which the Ace of Swords turns into ventures.
The notion of friendship goes back to the 7th house of partnerships.
On the positive side, the Two of Swords suggests balanced force, i.e., the balancing faculty of karma. Hence, Paul concludes that this card can also indicate justice, unselfishness, the restoration of peace, pleasure after pain, and strength through suffering (the disciplining effect of karma).
Paul’s inauspicious meanings are: falsehood (the opposite of partnership), sorrow (a response to unwanted karma), injury from another who really means well to the querent (friendly fire from partners), injury by the querent to another whom he wishes to help (same thing), tension (between intention and principles), suspension of force (suspension of intellectual intention), the want to act (the reaction to the Ace of Wands, Venture), and waiting for some announcement or revelation that will make decision possible (waiting to identify the principles applicable to a venture).
What Arthur Edward Waite Said About the Meanings of the Two of Swords
According to Arthur Edward Waite, this card signifies conformity (with principles) and poise (the balancing qualities of Libra).
The figure in the picture resembles the goddess of justice in the Karma card, but here she carries two swords and misses the scales.
Arthur adds that the meaning of harmony must be taken carefully since sword cards are usually not symbolic of beneficent forces in human affairs. Most of the time, they pertain to adversity, conflicts in the external world, and conjure the sense of separation.
He said the Two of Swords also suggests friendship, concord in a state of arms, tenderness, affection, and intimacy. Arthur derived these meanings from the 7th house of partnerships.
If inauspicious, this card can indicate imposture, falsehood, duplicity, and disloyalty, which are inauspicious partnership matters.
On the fortune-telling side, this card shall suggest gifts for a lady, an influential protection for a man in search of help, or dealings with rogues. As usual, no comment on fortune telling.
Last but not least, Arthur mentioned this card signifies courage. How he arrived at this meaning is unclear. Courage is a Leo character trait. Maybe he meant that the identification of principles that apply to a venture produces optimism.
What Etteilla Said About the Meanings of the Two of Swords
Etteilla, a French occultist and the first known professional tarotist, offers the meanings of tenderness and deceit.
These meanings pertain to auspicious and inauspicious partnership matters.
What Papus Said About the Meanings of the Two of Swords
Papus, another French occultist and the founder of the Martinist Order, suggests that this card signifies that enmity does not last.
Remember that Papus proposed the Ace of Swords signifies the beginning of enmity, or rather, the beginning of adversity?
According to Papus, the Two of Swords heralds the end of enmity or adversity. Likely, Papus realized that wisdom can turn around misguided intention (Ace of Swords).
What Gregor Mather Said About the Meanings of the Two of Swords
Gregor Mather, the founder of the Golden Dawn, suggested that an auspicious Two of Swords of Cups signifies friendship (7th house) and, like Arthur, valour, firmness, and courage.
Again, it’s unclear how Gregor arrived at the last three meanings since courage, firmness, and valour are Leo character traits. Maybe he followed the same line of thought as his contemporary Arthur.
Gregor suggested the following inauspicious meanings: false friends, treachery, and lies. These are inauspicious meanings that pertain to the 7th house of friendships.
What Mme. Le Marchand Said About the Meanings of the Two of Swords
Mme. Le Marchand, a 19th-century celebrated Parisian fortune teller, believed that the Two of Swords signifies that if the querent’s heart is set upon money, she will obtain it if she focuses on loving one person.
This interpretation pertains to fortune telling but contains a grain of truth, since it indicates loyalty (friendship) in romance.
The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot
Every Tarot card represents a faculty of consciousness. We can use faculties of consciousness constructively and destructively. This produces favorable and adverse experiences.
We can express faculties of consciousness on four levels:
- The spiritual level (wands/fire/intention)
- The creative-feely level (cups/water/imagination)
- The intellectual level (swords/air/intelligence)
- The bodily level (pentacles/earth/bodily action)
The four tools on the magician’s table symbolize these four levels:
- The wand (spiritual)
- The cup (creative-feely)
- The sword (intellectual)
- The pentagram (bodily)
These tools correspond to the four so-called elements: fire, water, air, and earth.
For this reason, the Enlightenment Tarot wands are made of fire, the cups consist of water, and the pents are composed of earth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to illustrate something made of air, since air is invisible. For that reason, all swords are made of crystal to show at least transparency.
The Enlightenment Tarot derives its meaning from the Tree of Life and the four levels of human expression. This is an objective, holistic framework that reveals the psychological imports of Tarot cards and their faculties of consciousness. Read more about this framework in the article The Psychological Framework of the Enlightenment Tarot.
The Enlightenment Tarot project attempts to rediscover the original meanings of the Tarot cards that pertain to their position on the Tree of Life. These meanings are simple, clear, and easy to memorize.
*This framework is compatible with Paul Foster Case’s qabalistic system.
Do you want to learn more About The Enlightenment Tarot?
If you want to delve deep into the psychological meanings of Tarot cards, read the book Tarot of Life.
If you are curious about how the Enlightenment Tarot came about, read this article.
If you are interested in learning how to perform psychological Tarot readings, subscribe to receive a free copy of a guide on how to perform psychological Tarot readings.
If you are looking for a psychological Tarot deck, you have come to the right place. The Enlightenment Tarot derives the cards’ meanings from a holistic and transparent framework that is easy to learn and memorize. All major and minor arcana carry psychological titles, and the court cards display psychological profiles. Have a look at the Enlightenment Tarot deck here.
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This exceptional Tarot deck is based on an objective and holistic, psychological framework: the Tree of Life. All minor and major cards feature psychological titles. For example, the Magician has the title ‘Attention’, and the Six of Cups has the title ‘Decision’. The court cards exhibit psychological profiles. For instance, the Queen of Wands stands for a willful woman: generous or stubborn, resolute or revengeful, intense or tyrannical, magnetic or dangerous.